Five ‘free’ great getaways you can still book for the August Bank Holiday

While some TOTT readers may well have grabbed a couple of weeks in the sun over July/August, there are many of you who have been holed up in the office, gazing jealously at colleagues’ Instagram feeds.

Luckily, there’s a perfect opportunity coming up for those who haven’t managed to get away. If you’ve been scratching around wondering what to do for the August Bank Holiday, you probably assumed everything is going to be super-expensive at this point. Wrong!

Here are five fantastic hotels you can still book for ‘free’ for the upcoming bank holiday.

Time to broaden our horizons a bit. This hotel has been on my ‘visit’ list for a while now and the fact that you can redeem points for such a fantastic looking property is an added plus.

The cheapest non-refundable, non-changeable cash rate at this hotel is more than €600 per night. I was shocked to see that there was still Cash and Points availability over the bank holiday weekend. This costs just 15,000 Starpoints + $275 – far more palatable.

It gets better as well. Paying with points at this hotel means free cancellation until 24 hours before your stay. The cheapest flexible cash rate that would allow you do that is €850 per night!

I am a big fan of the Conrad Algarve and I certainly didn’t expect this to still be available on points over the bank holiday weekend.

Pricing options at the Conrad Algarve

Pricing is typically expensive given it is peak summer season with the cheapest (non-refundable, non-changeable) price coming via the Hilton sale at €441. However, you can choose to use 80,000 Hilton Honors points per night which would be cancellable. As there is standard room availability you could also use the free night certificate that comes with the HHonors Platinum Visa card.

This is also an excellent option. Perhaps something a bit different, but you surely can’t go far wrong relaxing on the banks of Lake Geneva.

Pricing example at the InterContinental Geneve

Again, I think this is really decent value. The cheapest non-refundable cash rate comes in at about £270 and the cheapest flexible rate is roughly £380. Alternatively, reward nights are available at 45,000 points per night. When you consider that many InterContinental properties now require 60,000 points per night, this represents a good deal.

Prices for hotel rooms anywhere on the French Riviera during the summer can get quite silly. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see points availability at the JW Marriott in Cannes – jump on it before it disappears.

JW Marriott Cannes pricing example

For this hotel, the cheapest Advanced Purchase (non-refundable) price is approximately £590 per night! As you can see from the screenshot above, there is reward availability for 135,000 points per stay. Based on the 3-night stay I selected, that works out at 45,000 points per night.

If converting SPG points (to Marriott) – this would be many (UK-based) readers main source of Marriott points – that comes out at a very reasonable 15,000 points per night!

Verdict

If you’d written off your chances of getting away over the August Bank Holiday, think again. There’s no need to part with a small fortune to ensure that your August isn’t spent entirely at your desk! As I’ve outlined above, there are plenty of ‘inexpensive’ options to enjoy a short break and stay at some fabulous properties along the way.

The key here is making sure you have sufficient points in reserve for maximising last-minute opportunities like these. Even if it turns out you can’t get away this bank holiday for whatever reason, start building up those balances to make sure you’re well placed next time.